Riley Potter and the Riddle of XJ
by MotherCrumpet
Summary: It's Riley's 3rd year at Hogwarts and she's got a lot on her plate including an evil twin sister, horrible mother, and lack of a Quidditch team.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Logan's Story

I lay in the grass with my head propped up on my hands listening to the unsuspecting Alicia Weasley talk to her sister in law Ginny. They didn't like for the 'kids' to listen to the few horrible rumors that had been going around about some Muggle being tortured or some witch disappearing and then reappearing in Africa. It was rumored that some maniac wizard was going around and causing a serious uproar. I knew it was Lily, though I didn't know exactly what had really been done. That's the problems with rumors; you never know which ones are true.

"Riley, if you must listen please come over here and do so instead of acting like a spy," Alicia called. Maybe she wasn't as unsuspecting as I had thought.

I stood up and wearing a sheepish look walked over and sat down with Ginny and Alicia. Ginny was laughing.

"That's better. You've been over there every night this week and I was getting tired of it. At least you're more subtle about trying to hear what we're discussing. Lauran has been coming out to 'see if we need anything' every five minutes and Celeste and Greg are 'watching the sunset' from Greg's window," Alicia pointed up at the window where the silhouettes of Celeste and Greg Weasley were just barely visible.

"I thought you would be a tad more creative than the commando impersonation," Ginny remarked, sounding disappointed.

"I'll do better next time," I replied.

Just then an owl flew up and dropped a letter in my lap before soaring away. I quickly opened the letter and immediately recognized my father's hand-writing. The letter read:

Riley,

Sorry things haven't gone as planned. I hope to see you before your school starts the term, but chances are not looking good at the moment. We have had no luck in finding Moresby or Lily. Progress is extremely slow. I'll write again soon,

Dad

"It's from dad," I said handing the note to Alicia. I hadn't gotten very many owls from dad since he went looking for Lily and Moresby after they disappeared after the end death of Corrine Hodgepeckins during the Tri-wizard Tournament last term. I knew he wouldn't find them but nobody else was as sure of that fact as I was.

The doorbell rang and Celeste called, "I'll get it," as she ran down the stairs.

I thought about following her and then decided against it since Colby was supposed to be coming that night to stay for a few days. Celeste hadn't seen Colby since the end of school and I didn't fancy watching their happy reunion. But apparently I was wrong about our guest because…

"Greg, come here! Logan and Morgan are here and Logan looks pretty beat up!"

My interest was immediately heightened and I sprinted to the front hallway where Celeste, Logan, Morgan, and Greg had assembled.

"What happened?" I asked taking Logan's arm and pulling him into the kitchen and into a chair.

I took a minute to examine his injuries. Logan's right sleeve was completely shredded and his arm was bleeding from multiple cuts. He had a bleeding cut running down his cheek and a black eye. I shook my head.

"Go get Alicia," I said turning to Lauran who had just walked in, "Morgan, are you hurt?"

"No," Morgan replied sinking into a chair, "Is he okay?"

"I'm fine, I just got a little beat up," Logan spoke up.

"I think he's normal," I told Morgan grinning.

"Greg, I need to talk to you. We may be facing some difficulties…" Logan trailed off as Alicia and Ginny hurried into the room.

"Well, I can have you fixed up in a minute Logan. Would you two like to stay here for a couple of days? We'll call your parents and ask them if it's okay." Alicia grabbed her wand and quickly patched up Logan.

"That would be nice," Morgan replied politely, "Thank you."

"It's no problem, you're always welcome here." Alicia and Ginny left the room.

"What happened?" I demanded, sitting in the chair next to Logan.

"Nothing," Logan lied.

"Then how'd you get so beat up? Did you fall down some stairs?" I asked sarcastically.

"Well-" Logan was cut off by the doorbell.

Celeste hurried to answer it. Lauran hovered behind me curiously. I was about to tell her to go listen some more to Alicia and Ginny when Celeste called from the foyer, "Lauran, Dean came too!" Lauran hurried off.

"Come on, we'll go upstairs into my room," Greg said ushering us out of the room, "It's okay to tell Riley about the mission Logan. She'll understand, after all we're talking about Lily."

"What?" I asked sharply.

"It's a long story," Logan said.

"I've got time," I replied.

"Okay, then I'll start at the beginning. First of all I've been working for the Ministry this summer. They wanted a few kids who had been at Hogwarts to help with the hunt for Lily and Moresby and Morgan and I got picked. We've been helping all summer, doing spy work in Moresby's old groups and things like that.

"Well, last night was supposed to be our final night. I went down to this pub and pretended to be waiting for my mum when I was really listening for any clues as to Moresby's whereabouts. Morgan was stationed in the rafters wearing an invisibility cloak and acting as a look out.

"We were about to leave when Lily and Moresby walked in. Lily recognized me and they caught me. I struggled and they beat me up pretty well. Morgan realized that she wouldn't be any help if she was caught too so she waited until they were asleep and rescued me. We had to hide in the forest and then came here as fast as possible. It's safe because none of that gang is going to venture within twenty miles of London, not to mention Riley."

I sat shocked at Logan's story. Lily was getting worse than I thought.

"If they weren't sure to be long gone by now I'd go after them," I said angrily, "But there's nothing we can do but get you to report to the Ministry and get them on the hunt."

"I'm glad I couldn't get out last night," Greg said, "if they beat you up imagine what they would have done to me."

"I was wondering where you'd been sneaking off to every night," I commented, "You've been tagging along with them haven't you?"

"Yes, I wanted to help catch Lily," Greg replied.

"Logan tomorrow we're going to pay the Ministry of Magic a little visit, but we'd better alter your story a little bit. They don't think Lily's bad, remember?" I thought about how we could change the story just a little and make it sound like Lily was being held against her will.

"We'll tell them the real story only modified so it sounds like Lily asked Logan for help and Moresby caught on." Morgan said, "Can we eat? We haven't eaten since dinner last night."

"Come on, we've got plenty of food," Greg led them downstairs, "Coming Riley?"

"No," I replied thinking about what I had just heard. I was positive that Lily was causing trouble and was determined to let the world in on the truth.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Quidditch Captain

"This year we are going to try a new teaching technique here at Hogwarts. In order to continue to your next year you must not only pass exams but you must also figure out the answer to a puzzle. You will be working with the other students within your house and year to answer the puzzle. The house that gets the answer first will be exempt from all exams. Now, enjoy your feast!"

I clapped along with the rest of the Gryffindor students as Professor Longbottom finished speaking. It was the first day back at school and we were having the start of term feast. The Sorting had already taken place.

"You should hear the strange stories that people have been coming up with about what happened to Corrine. I heard a 7th year tell a 1st year that you killed her accidentally when your spell rebounded off Moresby's shiny forehead and hit her." Celeste could barely talk because she was laughing so hard that her juice was spraying out of her nose.

"Why do they make up such ridiculous stories?" Lauran asked nobody in particular.

"Well, if she had TOLD us what happened to Corrine we wouldn't have to make it up," Aaron Howe, a fellow Gryffindor 3rd year, remarked.

"Lay off, Aaron. She doesn't want to talk about it," Spencer said sharply, "What do you think of that new uh, 'teaching technique'?"

"I think we'll knock the snot out of the Slytherins," I replied smiling at the change of subject which didn't last long.

I was once again the center of gossip at Hogwarts, and not in a good way either. Everything that happened during the Third Task of the Tri-wizard Tournament last year had stayed between me and Professor Longbottom. I hadn't even told Celeste and Lauran everything, and I certainly hadn't told the whole school everything.

I decided to ignore the conversation and eat even though I was suddenly not hungry at all. How could I have thought that I could come back to Hogwarts and everything would be fine? A girl _died_ last term and I was there! Why couldn't my life be like everyone else's?

"Hey I'm talking to you!" Celeste exclaimed waving her hand in front of my face.

"Oh, sorry," I replied coming out of my stupor.

"You'd better be," Celeste retorted pretending to be angry, "I said, come on let's go up to the Common Room."

"Oh, it's the feast over?" I asked surprised, "I didn't notice."

"I figured," Celeste replied laughing, "Come on."

I stood up and we all walked to the Common Room which was packed with nervous looking 1st years who were getting assigned their rooms. Hogwarts had gotten so crowded that they had to add on extra rooms for every one below 5th year. Each year now had two guys' rooms and two girls' rooms. The girls' rooms were connected by a bathroom. Julia, Celeste, Lauran and I were in one room and the other four girls were in the other room. It worked out well.

"Are you ready for another year?" Julia asked, "Olivia says she's disappointed you weren't in detention more."

"Yeah, I had to stay on the teachers' good sides last year. I didn't want them trying to make my life harder than it normally is. I bet she'll see me in detention a lot more this year though," I replied laughing.

"I'll tell her that. I hope this is a good year for Quidditch; I missed it last year. I'm hoping to make the team this year," Julia had said the magic word and 3A (our dorm #) started discussing the Quidditch season enthusiastically.

Pretty soon everyone was in their beds sleeping soundly. Everyone but me, that is. I sat looking out the window and thinking about what new surprises this year would have in store.

"Good morning sunshine!" Spencer exclaimed the next morning as I sat down to breakfast.

"Morning yourself," I replied somewhat grouchily.

I was tired since I couldn't sleep last night. I kept having dreams about the end of last term.

"Aren't we a little ball of happiness this morning?" Spencer teased kissing me lightly on the cheek.

"I don't know about 'we' but I'm sure not," I retorted still grouchy, "When's try-outs for Quidditch?"

"Uh, I think it's up to you," Colby replied, "You're the Captain this year."

"What?" I asked shocked.

"I gave up Captain Duties. You're the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain," Colby replied in a matter of fact tone.

"Who decided that, and why wasn't I informed?" I asked still in shock.

"I decided yesterday. Delacour seemed to think it was a good idea too. Captain Duties were really too much for me to deal with. Plus I want to spend more time with Celeste."

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to hold try-outs on Saturday. Everyone has to come and re-try-out. Just as a formality of course," I added quickly upon seeing Lauran's sinking face.

"I'm not playing this year," Celeste said quickly as if afraid she'd change her mind.

"Me either," Spencer and Colby both said at the same time.

"Whoa, I don't like where this is going! I need a team, and at this rate it's just going to be me and Lauran!" I exclaimed.

"There are plenty of people hoping to play," Colby replied, "You just have to find them."

"Yeah, but are they any good?" I muttered.

"It'll be fine," Spencer assured me.

"Well then why do I have a sinking feeling about this year?" I muttered crossly.

"You're just paranoid," Lauran decided.

"Maybe I am, but how would you feel if you lost all of your Quidditch players in one year? It's craziness!" I took the schedule that Professor Delacour handed me and walked off trying to schedule Quidditch practice and try-outs in my head.

I decided try-outs would be on Saturday from 2- whenever we finished. What a year this was going to be!

* * *

**AN/ A little short, I know, but really now, I think it has a good base for lots of laughs later on! So, um, yeah Christmas is coming up and my birthday and things are crazy cause my mom doesn't know about my BF of 3 weeks... like you really care! Excuses really don't make up for anthing! I'll update ASAP, after I get some reviews that is, so get yourself reviewing, please!**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Cleaning and Try-outs

"Come on Lauran, I've got to be early!" I exclaimed.

It was Saturday and Quidditch Try-outs were today. Julia and I were standing impatiently by the door to the stairs with brooms over our shoulders. I needed to go down to the pitch and set up before everyone got there.

"I'm coming!" Lauran called from the bathroom.

She walked out grabbed her broom and hurried to follow Julia and I down the stairs. We had left the dorm room as soon as she stepped out of the bathroom.

"Wait for me!" Lauran screamed after us.

"Walk faster!" I screamed back, "I have to set up the Pitch!"

"I'm walking!" Lauran screamed back earning herself several strange looks from various students.

"So, you need three Chasers, a Beater, and a Keeper?" Julia asked as we burst out of the doors to the grounds.

"Yes, I'm pretty much rebuilding the whole Quidditch team. Can you believe they all quit?" I unlocked the Captain's office in the Gryffindor locker rooms and the room was instantly illuminated.

"That's disgusting," Lauran commented.

"Obviously Colby hasn't cleaned it for a while, if ever," I replied looking at the small office.

In one corner there was a small desk and filing cabinet. The desk looked like it had been half eaten by termites and the filing cabinet had huge dents in its sides. The ground was covered with an inch of dirt, dust and grime. The top of the desk wasn't even visible under the mounds of papers on top of it and the chair was missing two of its legs. I didn't mind things being a little messy, but this was pushing it!

"Uh, wow. I'm going to have to take care of this after try-outs. That's just gross. I think the whole locker room needs to be cleaned. That'll be a nice surprise for the team, won't it?" I pulled the door to the office shut and quickly changed into my Quidditch robes. Then we went out on the pitch carrying our brooms over our shoulders.

"Wow, that's half of the House right there!" Lauran exclaimed as we walked out onto the pitch.

"Hey!" I called to get everyone's attention, "Those who plan on trying-out please go and have a seat in the stands, everyone else, clear off!"

Half of the people filed out of the Pitch. I shook my head as I looked over the group that was left. There were about twenty people wanting to try-out.

"Okay, welcome to Gryffindor House Quidditch try-outs. Colby Seaworth resigned as Quidditch Captain this year. I got the job so if that bothers you I suggest you clear out."

A few 1st year girls stood up and looked around sheepishly as they filed out of the pitch. The remaining students laughed and then turned to look at me.

"Okay since that's all taken care of I want you to get in groups of position, Keepers over there, Chasers over there and Beaters over there. Who doesn't have a broom here?" I asked. Only a few 1st years raised their hands.

I thought for a minute as the hands went down. I figured I should start with the Chasers and Keepers. They could work together during try-outs. I put the Chasers in groups of three and assigned a Keeper to each group. Then I moved on to the Beaters. Lauran would have to help me out with this.

"Lauran, you take the Beaters and get them the big sticks that they use for whacking the Bludgers. Uh, take them to the far end of the pitch and chuck softballs at them to see if they can hit anything. We'll try flying and whacking later."

Lauran saluted and walked off laughing. Most of the Beater group had laughed as I said 'big sticks'. Even Lauran had to hold in a laugh until she started walking away.

I started to test the Chasers and Keepers. I wanted to see how different combinations would work so the groups never stayed the same for very long. The Beaters came back just as I was finishing with the last group. I had decided on my Chasers and Keeper. They worked well together and showed that they had a passion for the sport. I hoped Lauran had as good of luck as I had.

"So?" I asked as she came to stand next to me, "Any luck this year?"

"I found the team another Beater," Lauran announced happily.

"Who is it?" I asked. I was planning to announce the team in a second.

"His name is Mark Lobar. He's the best Beater I've seen at Hogwarts. I'm glad we've got him on our side and not the Slytherins," Lauran pointed to a fairly tall strong looking boy with chocolate brown hair.

"Awesome, I hope he works well with the rest of the team." I replied quietly.

"Okay, listen up, I think I have the Gryffindor Quidditch team figured out for this year, but before I announce it I want to make sure that nobody in here is going to have any possible conflicts with practice and matches." I looked around and not a single hand went into the air.

"Wow, they're not a very active bunch are they?" Lauran commented softly.

"Good, I'm about to announce the team but first I want to let you know that you all did very well. Unfortunately we only have a few spots open. You all understand that a team only has seven players and not everyone will make it. Keep in mind that there's always next year. So, without further ado, The Gryffindor team will be: Julia Johnson, Kara Jones, and Nina Sanchez as Chasers; Matt Waverly as Keeper; and Mark Lobar as Beater. Thanks to all of you for trying-out. I want the team to meet in the locker room."

There were a few tears in eyes as people left the Pitch. I was happy I didn't get anything thrown at me. Some of those guys and girls looked extremely muscular. I entered the dirty locker room and saw the team already assembled.

"I'd like to give my congratulations to all of you. As you can tell this locker room hasn't been cleaned for who knows how long. That's our first order of business. I'm not even going to let you see the office, it's that disgusting. I need to fit you for robes so even if you finish cleaning don't go anywhere. Lauran will give out lockers, and you can keep your brooms in there if you want. So get cleaning!" I turned and opened the door to the office.

Cheers erupted from behind me as the team celebrated their new positions. I hoped we'd get many more opportunities to celebrate. Pulling out my wand I waved it and the office started to look cleaner. It was going to take a while, but I'd get it done.

* * *

**AN/ Hey guys, yay for foul weather! That means we get two-hour delays and I have time to post this! YAY! So anyways, I hope you liked it. The Captain's office will come into play later in the story, so don't forget about it, okay? Please review!**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Back in D-hall

"Miss Potter, you haven't listened to a word I've said this entire class. I suggest that you find your head before tomorrow's test."

Wow, Professor Delacour was good! I had lasted longer today than usual but I hadn't made it much past 'good afternoon class' before zoning out.

"Sorry Professor," I replied trying to smile politely.

"Don't let it happen again," Professor Delacour sighed but she was smiling.

"If you were anyone else then she would have blown a gasket," Lauran commented as we walked out of the class after the bell rang.

"What's that test on tomorrow?" I asked guiltily, okay you caught me, I wasn't guilty at all.

"It's on turning a teacup into a box and back," Spencer informed me, "Mine still looks round, doesn't it?" He held out a box that resembled a melted teacup.

"Not at all," I replied sarcastically, "You want some help with that?"

"Mr. Wood clearly needs some help, but you will not be the one to help him. You, Miss Potter, will be serving Detention tonight from 5:00 till, well, till you finish your task I suppose," Professor Sever gave me a nasty grin before walking off.

"Wait, Professor!" I called, but it was too late, he was long gone, "Why do I have Detention?"

"I don't know, but we you had better get going, it's already 4:50," Lauran remarked, turning away from Celeste and Colby who were engaging in some PDA.

"Oh, snap!" I sputtered hiking up my robes and sprinting down the hallway towards the Entrance Hall.

"Oh look, it's my Detention buddy, Miss Riley Potter! What are you in for? I heard the Gryffindor Quidditch team trashed the Slytherin locker rooms. Way to go!" Olivia Johnson greeted me enthusiastically.

"When was this rumored to have taken place?" I asked curiously.

"I didn't think it was your style. They say you did it sometime last night, I suspect that's why you have Detention, since your team Captain and everything." Olivia shrugged.

"Hmm," I replied thoughtfully, "Who would trash the Slytherin locker room?"

"Almost any non-Slytherin in the school," Olivia replied honestly.

"You're right there," I laughed.

"Well, I'm sure you all know why you are here," Professor Sever said in a monotone voice, "Yes, Miss Potter?"

"I put my hand down, "Sorry to contradict you sir, but why the Hell am I here?"

"Miss Potter, you will serve an extra Detention for your cheek. I will take you all up into the North Tower, yes that is the one that hasn't been used since the death of Professor Dumbledore, and you will clean the whole tower, top to bottom. That is I will take everyone except Miss Potter, who will be going with Professor Longbottom and cleaning the Slyterin locker room, by hand."

My jaw dropped and I watched dumbly as the entire Detention class filed off to get cleaning.

"Miss Potter, if you'll come with me," Professor Longbottom turned and led the way down to the Quidditch Pitch and into the Slytherin locker room. It was absolutely disgusting in there.

"Eww, what's that?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"I'm afraid that I do not know, nor would I much like to find out," Professor Longbottom informed me quietly.

"Professor we didn't-"

"I know, Miss Potter. This locker room has not been cleaned as long as I have been Headmaster at this school. You are not here because of that, no you are far from being in trouble.

"Miss Potter, I want to start your training. You and I both know the Prophesy concerning you and your sister, Lily. We also both know that she did not, in fact, get kidnapped by Moresby. You, and a few other extremely talented students, are to be trained in order to capture your sister.

"You will not meet these students just yet but you do know every single one of them. Your first task is simple; clean this locker room up, there appears to be something living in the trash piles. Good luck." Professor Longbottom turned and left the room.

I waved my wand once and surveyed my work. The locker Room was sparkling clean. Thankfully anything that had been living in the room had been disposed of along with the hordes of trash piled in the corners. I left the Slytherin locker room and went into the Gryffindor locker room on the other side of the Pitch. It was nice and tidy. I surveyed the room and noticed an envelope on my desk in the Captain's office. Curious, I unlocked the door, and opened the envelope. It read:

Congrats, Miss Potter, on successfully completing your first task. You will meet with another student on Wednesday in the Library's section on Vampires. This student will be wearing an orange wristband and have further instructions on what to do. Good luck, Professor Neville Longbottom

P.S. please wear enclosed wristband from now on. Thank you!

I pulled out an orange wristband and slipped in over my hand. It fit perfectly. I left my office, locked the door and walked up to the school for dinner. I slid into a seat next to Logan and Spencer.

"I thought you had Detention," Lauran commented.

"Nope, Professor Sever was wrong," I replied honestly, "Hey tell the rest of the team we've got practice tonight, will you?"

Lauran got up and started to pass the word around to the various Quidditch team members. I ate my dinner praying that Spencer wouldn't notice the orange wristband.

"When did you get that?" Spencer asked the inevitable.

"Hermione sent it in the mail; ancient French wizards believed the color orange would ward off zombies or something like that," I lied without missing a beat. Hermione was always sending me crazy things like that.

"That's interesting," Spencer replied with a tone very much suggesting that he felt otherwise. I thanked God that he had lost interest.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" Logan commented looking at me wonderingly.

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**AN/ So there's Chapter 4 YAY! Okay have fun reviewing! Oh and in case you were wondering cause you didn't know, PDA stands for Public Displays of Affection.**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Duck and Weave

"Duck and weave!" I screamed at Kara Jones as she flew right into Julia again and dropped the Quaffle.

"There's Slyterins at 6 o'clock!" Nina warned loudly.

"That's 12 o'clock," Lauran sighed; Nina was an excellent Chaser but she couldn't quite grasp the concept of clock directions.

"What do you want?" I asked sharply diving to land right in front of the Slytherins.

"We need the Pitch so we can train out new Keeper," The Slytherin Captain replied snidely.

"Well I need the Pitch so I can train my whole damn team!" I retaliated.

"Ah, but we have a note from Professor Sever saying that we can use the pitch for practice tonight, so get off!"

Rolling my eyes I called the team down and we filed out of the Pitch. I needed to get to that meeting with God only knows who anyway. I quickly changed out of my Quidditch robes, put up my broom and left the locker rooms, reminding the team of practice tomorrow night on my way out.

I hightailed it up to the Library and proceeded to find the section on Vampires, as my note had instructed. I saw Logan leaning up against one of the bookcases. He appeared to be waiting for someone. Glancing down I saw that he was also wearing an orange wristband. That was no coincidence.

"You're late," he commented dryly.

"Sorry sir," I replied pretending to be a terrified student. Logan laughed, "So, what do we have to do?"

"Open this and find out," Logan responded, handing me a white envelope. I opened it and pulled out the note inside.

Miss Potter and Mr. Walters,

The two of you will be partners in a little game. This game is part of your training. In order to win and pass your training you must find all the clues and then solve the puzzle. The clues will get progressively harder as you get further into the game.

Best of luck to you,

Professor Neville Longbottom

"What's the first clue?" Logan asked.

"Your last name is Walters?"

"Yes, now, the clue?"

"Oh, right. It says find the place where people paler than light _Dwell_ _Without_ need for water, food, or _Life_."

I thought for a second and instantly knew the answer.

"That's an easy one!" I exclaimed.

"No, it's not!" Logan looked confused.

"Yes, it is. Look, the words Dwell, Without and Life are italicized and Capitalized. The answer is in books. _Dwell Without Life_ is the title of the book. See, its right there!"

Logan pulled the book off of the shelf and flipped through the book to find another envelope. It fell out right away and Logan got ready to rip it open.

"Hold on!" I cried.

"Why?"

"I think we should try to do one puzzle a day because when they get harder we're going to have to think longer and more before we can answer the riddle. We'll find a new one every night and open it every morning."

"Fine, that sounds logical," Logan sighed and pocketed the envelope, "I wonder who we're competing against."

"I'm not sure, but I think we should try to find out. Let's look for people wearing wristbands. Maybe we can figure it out then."

Logan and I walked out of the Library and towards the Common Room together. Suddenly there was a loud bang in front of us and I instantly dropped to the floor. AN envelope was on the ground in front of me and I picked it up cautiously. The note read:

_Congrats on your first clue. Here's a little helpful tip, duck and weave, you never know who is listening in or following behind you…_

_XJ_

"What in the world?" I muttered handing the note to Logan, "I think this means we shouldn't tell anyone about anything, that is until we know who the competition is."

"Yeah, but who's 'XJ' and are they a friend or a foe in this 'game'?"

"Duck and weave," I muttered to myself, "Duck and Weave." Now where had I heard that before?

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**AN/ Sorry about the wait, I got very excited about my Katie/Oliver story and kinda forgot to post this chapter. gives sheepish grin SORRY GUYS! Besides, I'm sorta depressed that I don't get very many reviews for this story. hmmm, anyways please go ahead, feel free to inflate my ego and I'll try to update sooner next time! Next chaptermight bea little sad for fans of the Spencer/Riley pairing. Ah, well you'll see. And, yes, it must be done! Alas, they are growing apart.**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Accents and Heartbreak

"So you're telling me that you spent yesterday evening in the library?" Spencer asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, practice was getting discouraging and I had to do something- Is that a green wristband you're wearing?" I interrupted myself mid sentence.

"Yeah, it's for Muscular Dystrophy or something. Dad said they're all the rage in the United States."

"Oh," I replied. I had thought that maybe it was one of the other team's wristbands.

"What did you think it was?" Spencer asked suspiciously.

"Nothing, so are you ready for the test in Potions?" I tried to change the subject.

"No," Spencer babbled on and I lost interest.

I found myself looking for wristbands everywhere. Hell, I'd even looked to see if Malfoy had one.

"Riley, I need to ask you something," Logan didn't wait for a response but grabbed my arm and yanked me into an empty classroom.

"Ouch, that hurt," I snapped rubbing my sore arm.

"Sorry," Logan replied absently, he was trying to open the new clue.

"You should be," I muttered, moving closer to see what the note said. I read over his shoulder:

Very good, you have found the first clue. Now here's the clue to finding the second. Roofs can be sloped, or Ruffs can be slanted, find the ceiling that's neither sloped nor slanted.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know that you two were in her, I'll just leave. I honestly didn't know that you two were cheating on Spencer Wood together in here, I'm just going to go!" A little first year had walked in the door and seen me peering over Logan's shoulder at the note.

"Oh, we're not…" I trailed off; the first-year was already gone, "Great, that's just great!"

"I wouldn't worry about it. She's terrified of anyone older than her. She's not going to tell Spencer some crap about you cheating on him," Logan laughed at the idea of us being together.

"I hope you're right," I muttered, thinking about the clue.

"Have you been spending a lot of time with Logan lately?" Spencer asked that night in the Common Room.

"Not really," I replied not quite understanding where this was going, "Why?"

"I hear you're cheating on me," I finally picked up on the anger in Spencer's voice.

"Who told you that?" I already knew the answer.

"Kaitlin did," Spencer pointed to the first-year girl that had come into the classroom earlier that day.

"It's not true," I said honestly, but that apparently didn't make much difference if Spencer thought I was lying.

"Well, I've heard from other people that you've been together a lot lately, Riley. I'm sick of you not talking to me, and I'm not going to put up with this!" Spencer screamed a little too loudly, seeing as how the whole Common Room turned to face us.

"So you're…"

"I'm dumping you Riley!" Spencer yelled before turning and stalking off.

"Not again," Celeste muttered as I sat and absorbed what had just happened.

"I'm s-s-sorry," Kaitlin stammered as she tugged on my sleeve, "I didn't know he would d-d-d-dump you."

"It's okay, but Logan and I weren't…" I trailed off, "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine."

I got up and walked proudly out of the Common Room and got all the way down into the Captain's office in the Gryffindor locker room before breaking down. I pulled myself back together and started to file papers on the different Quidditch players.

As I was flipping through files I saw one on my grandfather. I pulled out Potter, James and opened it. There was a picture of him attached to a biographical sketch and a couple of newspaper clippings. I flipped through the contents and out fell an envelope. I pocketed the envelope and placed the file back carefully.

"Riley, I'm sorry about you and Wood," Logan said as he sat in the only other chair in my office, "I would tell him the truth if he wouldn't beat me to a pulp if I got within reach."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. He should have trusted me, but whatever," I replied as I propelled the chair over to the desk and grabbed a few papers off of it before gliding back to the open file cabinet.

"Why don't you do that magically? Wouldn't it would save you a lot of trouble," Logan watched questioningly.

"Why use magic if I can do it just as well by hand?" I replied.

"But if you use magic you wouldn't get paper cuts, would you?"

"No, I wouldn't, would I?" I retorted, nursing my fresh paper cut.

"Are we playing that question game again?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't think I want to, do you?"

"Was that a question?"

"Yes, it- hey, that's got to be against the rules!" Logan exclaimed.

"It's a gift," I responded, spinning the chair around to face him, "So, what can I do for you?"

"Can you help me solve this?" He asked waving the clue from earlier in my face.

"Can you think about it for a minute?"

"Why would I do that if you already know the answer?"

"So that you can lean to solve these on your own," I replied, then realized I hadn't asked a question when Logan smiled a triumphant grin.

"I know the answer now!" Logan exclaimed, "Roofs can be sloped, or Ruffs can be slanted, find the shelter that's neither sloped nor slanted. 'Roofs' and 'ruffs' are different pronunciations, or accents, of the same word. Where we want to look is the roof of the greenhouse that was just built, the one with the flat roof!"

"Way to go, Sherlock," I responded smiling, "You just have to think about these things a little bit."

"What are we waiting for?" Logan jumped out of his chair and grabbed my hand, pulling me along behind him. We ran over Spencer in the hallway.

"So, it is true, isn't it?" Spencer asked angrily.

"What's true?" I asked, completely forgetting the days earlier events.

"You are seeing Logan, aren't you?"

"Does it look like I'm 'seeing' Logan?"

"Yes, it does!" Spencer exclaimed.

"Oh, because I'm not, but you go right ahead and think whatever you want to think,' I grabbed Logan's hand and pulled him out into the grounds.

"He wants to kill me," Logan said nervously.

"He does not," I replied smoothly.

"I'll kill you, Logan, don't think I won't!" Spencer Wood was in a rage and screamed after us.

I spun around, "Spencer Cedric Wood I'd like to see you try! Now leave him out of this, this is a problem between us, Logan's just helping me with something if you must know, not like it's any of your business!"

"I told you he wanted to kill me," Logan muttered.

"Oh, shut up," I snapped.

* * *

**AN: And there you are, sorry to all of you Riley/Spencer lovers but, alas he had to go. It's all part of the master plan. Anyways, I hope you liked it, Pleas review!**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Love Sucks

"How the hell did my life get so fucked up?" I said frustrated, throwing my ink pot at the wall.

Magenta ink oozed down the wall, staining the wallpaper. I waved my wand crazily and the whole stained chunk of wallpaper ripped off and flew into the opposite wall leaving a stain there too. This was not my day!

"Wow Riley, are you trying to kill a guy?" Spencer Wood asked narrowly avoiding the ink pot that had been aimed at his head.

Yeah, I admit that I had finally burst. All the pressure had finally gotten to me, but Spencer had crossed the line. Yesterday night he practically tried to murder Logan and now he was talking to me like nothing had happened! I think I have the right to go completely bitchy all of a sudden.

"Well you tried to kill Logan yesterday!" I screamed, "He's in the Hospital Wing with three broken ribs, a broken nose and severe bruising. You aren't exactly my favorite person in the world and you just come waltzing into my dormitory like you haven't ever done anything wrong! When am I going to be able to penetrate your thick skull? I DID NOT CHEAT ON YOU! NOW GET OUT!"

From yelling to growling to crying in 10 seconds flat, that _had_ to be a record. I say crying but I mean bawling, for now I lay on my bed bawling my heart out and finally letting out all the anger and frustration that had built up inside me for my whole life.

"Riley," Spencer said tentatively.

"Just go," I sobbed, "Just go and leave me alone. Don't ever bother me again, Spencer Cedric Wood. Don't bother me because I fall in love with you and then you go and rip my bloody heart out, I'm tired of it, just go away and leave me alone!"

"What did you say?" Spencer asked quietly.

"Leave me alone," I sobbed in reply.

"No, I meant before that."

"You heard me," I replied angrily I had stopped crying, "I'm never repeating that again, to anyone."

"You didn't cheat on me, did you?" Spencer was starting to realize the extent of his blunder.

"No," I replied softly, "I didn't."

"And, you love me."

"I loved you Spencer, with all my heart."

"Oh, God," Spencer sunk onto my bed and pulled me gently into his arms, "I'm so sorry, Riley." He whispered.

"It's too late," I replied and pulled away from him and walked out, "It's just too late. You just aren't the Spencer Wood that I fell in love with anymore."

"Did you really tell him that?" Logan asked miserably from his Hospital bed.

"Yes," I sighed. _Love sucks, _I thought, _but when will the pain go away?_

Logan shook his head slightly and winced in pain. He was healing fast but it would be a long time before he was fully healed. Even magic couldn't heal everything.

"You didn't!" Celeste screamed at me as she sprinted into the Hospital Wing, Lauran, Greg and Morgan close behind.

"You fell in love with Spencer and he offered to take you back, he said he was sorry and you go all 'it's too late, you just aren't the Spencer Wood I fell in love with'! I cannot believe you!" Celeste emphasized her words by shaking me.

"Give her a break Celeste," Greg replied grinning, "She stood up to Wood and she left him forever! He deserved it!"

"I have no idea why you're so happy about this whole situation, but I really don't want to talk about this anymore, so if you want to discuss it, then I'm leaving," I broke in, struggling to keep the tears at bay.

Lauran gave me a huge hug. She didn't say anything, and she didn't need to.

"Thanks Lauran," I whispered.

"Anytime, Riley," Lauran whispered back, "Anytime at all."

* * *

**AN/ mwahaha, so, that's the end of Riley and Spencer, at least for the moment, I'm not sure about later, a LOT later. So,don't worry about it anyway, forget that I even mentioned anything. Now that you remember nothing about it... please review! **

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Notches

_"What is our Lady's plan?"_

_"I'm not entirely sure, but we shall find out in due course. Be patient, when we are to know her plans she shall tell us."_

_"Our Lady is a genius. How is someone so young so smart?"_

_"Never again mention our Lady's age, age does not matter, ingenuity does."_

_"Yes, you are right, I shall never mention it again, Lady may get the wrong impression and we would not want that."_

_"No, we would not, it is best to keep our mouths shut."_

. : X : .

I woke up from a strange dream. I couldn't remember most of it, there seemed to be two men talking about something, or someone, but that was all I could remember.

News of Wood's and my permanent break-up had traveled quickly. Wood seemed to be constantly surrounded by flustered, eyelash batting, flirting girls. He didn't look as if he cared that they were there either, until he noticed that I was watching that is, then he blushed and pretended that he was enjoying their continuous company.

My own popularity with the boys had soared. They were forever flirting with me in the hallways and walking with me to class. I found it highly amusing and they soon became the butt of many jokes between Lauran, Celeste and me.

The only guy I found even remotely interesting was a 3rd year exchange student from America who showed absolutely no interest in me. He was in Ravenclaw and on the Quidditch team. Of course he was sought after by many of the same girls chasing after Wood. This amused me even more than the guys flirting with me and I made an effort to get to know this guy.

I walked down to the Quidditch Pitch a little early that day, thinking maybe I'd meet that exchange student, I figured it was best to find out his name first. We were practicing right after Ravenclaw and I sat in the bleachers to watch the end of their practice. Needless to say, I was noticed. Honestly it's hard to hide auburn hair when it's sunny outside.

"Potter, I was sent to ask if you're spying on us," the American exchange student said in his American accent.

"And you are?" I asked, thinking, _I'm good._

"The name's Andrew Notch and I have a girlfriend. I suggest you get out of our practice. The Pitch is yours in exactly 10 minutes."

My jaw dropped, "I never said anything about a girlfriend! And where's the rule about sitting in for Quidditch practice?"

"You can take it up with Justin if you want."

"No, that is okay," I said quickly jumping over the seats in front of me. Justin, the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, and I weren't on the best of terms.

"I thought so," Notch shook his head and walked down the stairs quickly.

I tried to catch up and managed to trip myself. _Great_, I thought, _at least I didn't tumble down all of the stairs._ Then I noticed that the entire Ravenclaw Quidditch team was assembled at the foot of the stairs and were laughing hysterically. I wouldn't be able to avoid Justin now.

"Were you spying Potter?" Justin asked cruelly.

"Why would I want to spy on you? Slytherin, maybe, but you guys, I think not," I figured fight fire with fire, right? WRONG! I had forgotten that I was, needless to say, outnumbered by the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

"Guys, she didn't mean it!" Notch called as the entire team advanced on me. Apparently he called most of the shots and everyone back off reluctantly.

"Thanks," I whispered to Notch as I walked past him.

"I didn't do it for you Potter; I just didn't want the whole team getting expelled for pulling you limb from limb." Notch replied nastily but I thought I detected a small smile.

"Is she crazy?"

"Maybe a little bit," I responded to the 1st year who was gazing at Wood and debating with her friend why I hadn't gotten back together with him.

"Are you mad at me?" That Kaitlin girl was getting annoying. Convinced that I hated her for breaking Wood and I up, she was now asking every time that she saw me if I was mad at her.

"Once again, no, I am not mad, but if you keep asking I just might change my mind," I replied through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry, I really am!"

"It's not your fault and stop apologizing!"

"I'm-" Kaitlin stopped mid-sentence as she realized what she was saying.

"Way to go, now keep it up and don't apologize for everything that you do!" I turned and walked off not noticing the gaze of one Andrew Notch.

"Do you know Andrew Notch?" Lauran asked me later that week. I looked up form the clue I was studying over Logan's shoulder.

"We've met," I replied stiffly, "Why?"

"His sister was telling me today that he likes this girl but she can't figure out who he likes. He broke up with his girlfriend recently and hasn't asked out another girl," Lauran was my source for gossip; she had a way of hearing it all without anyone noticing her.

"Who's his sister?" I asked curiously, "I didn't know he had one."

"Kaitlin Notch, she's in Gryffindor, you know her."

"Well, that explains a lot," I replied half to myself, "Annoying must run in the family."

"You're so immature, Riley," Lauran rolled her eyes and I nabbed the clue from Logan.

"Hey! I was reading that," Logan protested.

"You've been reading the damn clue for an hour! Give it up!"

"I want to figure out one clue! Is that too much to ask?"

"If puzzles aren't your strong point, then yes, it is too much to ask!" I replied, but I handed back the clue, smiling. I already had the answer. Dang, these were easy!

* * *

**AN/ So, what'd you think? I'd like to think that my writing is improving. Tell me what you think, espscially if you've read the first two Riley Potter stories!(some of my earliest works!) Please Review, I like to know what you guys think even if it'sthat the story absolutely stinks!**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: XJ Strikes Again

_"Her Ladyship wishes to remain in hiding for a little while longer. Plans will be postponed."_

_"Yes, we shall postpone the plans. We can't have anything going wrong, it is wise of her Ladyship to wait."_

_"Our Lady is not worried, nor afraid. You must not let any believers think that."_

_"No, that cannot be allowed. We shall not permit it."_

_"Wait on her Ladyship's word before action."_

_"Yes, we shall wait patiently."_

.:X:.

"Notch put him down!" I demanded as Logan Malfoy was dangled in the air, "He's not worth the effort!"

"Do you really want me to drop him Potter?" Notch replied grinning.

"No, I want you to lower him gently and leave him alone, you are so immature!" I replied automatically reaching for my own wand.

"Fine, I'll drop him if you want me to," Notch waved his wand almost lazily and dropped Logan Malfoy onto the ground. I could almost hear the crack as he hit the ground.

"You frocking, son of a, you must be the worst person I've ever met!" I turned away from the sad site of Malfoy struggling to his feet and righting his robes.

Notch and his friends were laughing loudly. I felt like smacking him until… BANG!

Logan Malfoy had dove for his wand lying on the ground. He picked it up and, pointing it straight at Notch, cast a curse. Notch was shot backwards and into the nearby lake. Then Malfoy held him under the water.

"Malfoy," I warned, pulling out my wand and pointing it at him.

"Stay out of this Potter!" Malfoy shot back, "Or I'll drown your boyfriend."

With a simple wave of my wand Malfoy lay on the ground tied in a bundle and Notch lay coughing on the shore of the lake. "He's not my boyfriend, thank God," I commented and walked away from the scene.

"I heard about your little adventure by the lake this afternoon, Miss Potter," Professor Delacour had called me into her office right after dinner.

I didn't say anything, just awaited judgment, and possibly punishment. I looked at the floor and tried to appear nonchalant. I think I looked somewhat nervous.

"Don't worry; I did not call you here to chastise you. In fact, I want to do quite the opposite. Your quick thinking may have saved the life of Andrew Notch this afternoon. That boy owes you his life. You did not use any violence to restrain Mr. Malfoy either. Mr. Malfoy has been expelled for attempted murder of a fellow student; I expect you won't see much of him anymore."

"No, Professor is he already gone?" I asked suddenly interrupting her lengthy speech.

"Yes, why do you ask? Is there something I should know?" Professor Delacour asked curiously.

"No, nothing," I muttered to myself.

I ignored the rest of her speech and walked out the door. Malfoy had been expelled, which almost certainly meant that he would join up with Lily now. Logan and I needed to hurry up and finish this training, before it was too late.

"Potter!" a voice called from behind me. I turned around.

"Notch," I nodded politely, well sort of.

"I, uh, I, thanks," Notch stammered.

"Uh, you're welcome." I replied confusedly.

"Thanks for saving me, I owe you one."

"Oh, it wasn't like I was going to let Malfoy kill anyone. And you don't owe me Notch. I was repaying your family."

"For what?" it was Notch's turn to be confused.

"Let's just say that Kaitlin did me a favor." I replied before walking away.

.:X:.

_"So you return to her Ladyship's service."_

_"Yes, I never did leave her service; it was all part of the plan."_

_"You are lucky she is not angry with you for failing to stay her spy at the school."_

_"Her Ladyship was disappointed, but nothing is happening there at the moment, besides her Ladyship controls many Eyes."_

_"That is true, carry on with your work; you are doing an excellent job for her Ladyship."_

_"Everything shall go according to her Ladyship's plan."_

.:X:.

I sat straight up in my bed, sweating like a student in marching band after the final run-through of the practice. My heart was beating a thousand beats faster than should be normal. Why had I woken up? I struggled to remember when a tapping noise came from the window again. I glanced out the window. Zandra, my snowy owl, was rapping on the glass. Figuring that must have been what woke me up I crossed to the window and opened it to the cool night air. Zandra flew in and dropped a letter on my four-poster and then swooped out to do her nightly hunting. I walked over to my bed and sat down to read my letter.

Potter and Walters,

Watch your backs because you never know who's on which side. Be careful talking in the halls or you may find things end up in the wrong hands. Don't do anything stupid and keep training like your lives depend on it because your lives and the lives of countless others depend on you.

Good Luck,

XJ

I stood up and ignored Lauran's strange sleep-talk. I sprinted out of the dormitory and into the Common Room. I was about halfway up the boys' dormitory's steps when I realized that it was three o'clock in the morning. Logan was not going to be happy if I dashed in and woke him up at three o'clock in the morning to show him another note from 'XJ'. So I slowed to a quick walk instead.

"Whadaya want?" Logan murmured sleepily as I half shook him to death.

"We got another note from our little friend," I replied shaking him again despite his attempts to shake me loose.

He sat straight up, wide awake, "Well, where is it? We can't look at it here, come on!"

Logan practically skipped down the stairs. He sat in one of the most comfortable chairs next to the dying fire and I sat down beside him. He held out his hand expectantly. Warning him not to read it out loud, I handed him the crumpled note. He read it and reread it. Then he threw it into the fireplace.

"This 'XJ' is right. We have to be careful. There's not to be any talking about you-know-which-person around the school between us. Now, I'm tired and am going back to bed. Next time, wake me up more gently please."

Logan staggered up the stairs to his dormitory. I made sure that the note was burnt into a crisp; I knew all too well what could happen if you didn't make sure your notes were sufficiently disposed of.

* * *

**AN/ Okie dokie guys, I'm posting this today and I'll hopefully post the next chapter soon. Please review and all that jazz. Oh, that last statement is a reference to something from earlier in Riley's life, if you don't remember, it's not that important that you do so don't worry about it.**

**Any guesses who is speaking in the italic writing that will begin most chapters from now on? Put that in your reviews if you care to wager an opinion!**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Hogsmeade Troubles

_"Her Ladyship wishes me to tell you that the raid on Hogsmeade shall occur on Saturday, ready the plans and the people."_

_"It shall be as she wishes."_

.:X:.

I ventured downstairs one morning to find a huge crowd gathered around the message board. Being much to short to see over people and much to lazy to fight my way through the crowd I did the only truly sensible thing, flicked my wand and had the sign come flying over to me. Sure a couple of people may have been irked, but those near me were extremely happy. The sign read as follows:

HOGSMEADE TRIPS:

Students 3rd Year and up are allowed to visit Hogsmeade this Saturday if they have turned in their parent permission form. Please see Professor Delacour if you have not turned in your permission form or if you have any questions.

"Oh, great, just what I've always wanted, to go to Hogsmeade with all my buddies," I commented sarcastically and flicked my wand sending the sign back, much to the dismay of a couple students.

"Did you say Hogsmeade?" Lauran asked eagerly, coming up behind me.

"Yeah, we can go on Saturday. Thrilling, isn't it." I replied with no enthusiasm whatsoever. I had been to Hogsmeade plenty of times already, sometimes with permission other times by sneaking out of the castle with the invisibility cloak.

"That's great! I've got to go tell Dean!" Lauran squealed and rushed off.

I rolled my eyes at her eagerness and went down to an uneventful breakfast to start an uneventful day.

"Potter, I still don't have a date to Hogsmeade if you want to change your mind!" Andrew Notch called across the Great Hall on Saturday morning.

"No!" I replied firmly and rather loudly too, "Gag me with a spoon! I'd rather go out with a vampire in a blonde wig!"

"I can arrange that!" Notch had recently taken an interest in me, I found him rather annoying and childish but I do admit he's very cute.

"Oh, go eat a bloody pizza!" I yelled back, much to the amusement, and confusion, of most of the student body. Notch threw me a dejected look and left the Great Hall hurriedly as the students returned to their previous conversations.

"Poor, Notch. He takes an interest in you and you kick him where guys are most susceptible to pain," Lauran commented sympathetically.

"No," I replied, "I'm pretty sure I kicked him in the shin and slapped him in the face."

"I was speaking metaphorically you dolt," Lauran replied shooting Celeste, who had sprayed all her pumpkin juice out of her mouth and snorted into Lauran's plate of breakfast food simultaneously, a nasty look.

"Notch is an idiot. He has no maturity, no self control. He's a filthy toe-rag. Jut because I saved his life doesn't mean that I have to like him."

I stood up and went into the Entrance Hall with Celeste close behind me. Neither of us fancied watching Lauran and Dean's ritual morning face-sucking. Now that was something that would gag you with ten spoons, narsty!

"Hey Riley! Hey Celeste!" Colby called as he hurried down the stairs. He joined us in line to leave Hogwarts, "Didn't change your mind about Notch I see."

"Uh, no, I did not change my mind," I replied, "Are you two going on a date? I can find someone else to go to Hogsmeade with. I do have other friends you know."

"Nope, you can stay with us. There will be no PDA on this Hogsmeade trip, although I would enjoy a nice laugh at Madame Puddle-butt's Tea House, or whatever that awful place is called," Celeste replied cheerfully.

"I couldn't agree more," I replied, linking arms with her and skipping off to the waiting carriages.

.:X:.

_"We shall go as soon as the sun starts to set. Everything is ready my Lady, your servants are in place."_

_"Thank you, Malfoy. Your hard work will be rewarded very soon, and yours too Moresby. We leave at sunset!"_

.:X:.

"Well this was a amusing day and all but I'm thinking that after we visit the Shrieking Shack we should go back up to the castle, I've got Quidditch practice at 9:00 tonight," I commented after a long, interesting day of Celeste and I taunting any couples that happened to walk by showing any signs of PDA.

"I quite agree," Celeste replied, "Besides I really don't fancy watching Dean shove his tongue down her throat one more time and you know Lauran won't go anywhere near the Shrieking Shack."

"It's getting dark," Lauran protested, "I'm not going to be outside of the castle grounds after dark!"

"Technically the Shrieking Shack is still on Hogwarts grounds," I responded slyly.

"By Riley's reckoning," Celeste added as she and I walked away from the others.

"I'm going back with them," Colby called nervously, I think he's afraid of the dark.

"Whatever floats your skirt up," I called over my shoulder, much the general amusement of my friends, well other than Colby anyways.

Celeste and I walked along the path, which was deserted since most students had long since taken refuge in the Three Broomsticks or gone back to Hogwarts. We didn't even notice that the sun was disappearing behind the hills on the far side of Hogsmeade as we walked along. Neither of us would admit it but it was getting eerily quiet in this part of town.

All of a sudden I head several loud pops that sounded like muggle cars backfiring. I spun around towards the noise, wand out and ready. There, blocking the path towards both Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, stood Lily and several masked and hooded figures with their backs to us.

* * *

**AN/ Click the little button thingy and review, please?**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Choices

As soon as we saw the masked figures, which looked similar to large eyes, Celeste and I headed for cover. We were almost out of sight when Lily called out, "I saw you the moment we arrived, sister. Don't even try to escape my eyes!"

"What do you want Lily?" I replied steadily.

"I want revenge on you. You tore our family apart and now I'm going to tear you apart."

"You're delusional, but give it your best try!" I shouted, pulling Celeste to the ground and rolling behind a bench along the side of the path. Where were those damn Aurors when you needed them?

"Dear sister, don't you try and play hide and seek with me. Mother wouldn't like us to play during nap time!" Lily called in a sickeningly innocent voice.

"I haven't taken naps in years, Lily! You just haven't grown up yet. You still want to be a baby, fine; I can treat you like a baby!" I flicked my wand and Lily was in diapers and her 'Eyes' had pacifier suits on.

"You'll regret that move!" Lily snarled.

"No, I honestly don't think I will. Give up, and go home."

"Watch your back sister because this fight is not over. It has only begun!"

"You're the nutcase," I told Lily, trying to distract her so that Celeste could get away.

"I am not a nutcase!" Lily roared in reply.

"Ah, I appear to have struck a nerve. You may want to get your mental health checked out, dear sister. The crazy seems to go along with the evil. My personal theory is that all evil people are crazy. Take Hitler for example, he was about as damn evil and crazy as you can get."

I babbled about nothing for a while trying to buy Celeste time. She was sneaking off to get help and only needed a little bit longer and to obtain a straight shot to the school and to be out of sight behind a hill. Don't notice her for another second, just a little longer, there, Celeste had finally reached the cover of a hill and was presumably off and running for help at the school.

"You'll die a slow and painful death for your insolent comments one day," Lily informed me coldly.

"And you'll die a quick and painless death, or a long, slow, and painful one for your evil ways. Your type of death depends on who gets the pleasure of disposing of you," I replied equally as coldly.

"Where'd your Weasley friend go? Did she abandon you? Some friends you have!" Lily laughed, "Find her my Eyes. And you do have my permission to dispose of her when you do find her."

The 'Eyes' laughed cruelly as they hurried off, leaving me to face Lily, once again alone. I hoped to God and all things holy that Celeste was long gone.

Lily pointed her wand at me and before I realized what was happening I felt a searing pain spread across my body. Lily had used a curse on me that was extremely similar to the Cruciatius Curse, one that I had never seen used before.

"Mother of macaroni and all things cheesy," I screamed, the ability to spurt curse words was chased out of my body by the pain. The pain lightened up only to double a second later.

"If you bow down to me your death will be quick and painless, dear sister," Lily's cruel grin spread across her face.

"I'll never bow down to you, you tyrant," I replied determinedly, as the pain seemed to triple.

"I figured you'd say that, but a little more pain may change your mind."

Lily flicked her wand and the bone crushing pain grew even worse. I had managed to keep my feet up until this point but now I collapsed on the ground. The only thought that crossed my mind was _I hope Celeste didn't get caught_.

"Your Ladyship, we cannot find your sister's companion anywhere. She has escaped," an Eye informed Lily.

"No, keep looking, she is only hiding. FIND HER!" Lily roared, taking her anger out on me. By this point I was sure Lily had caused permanent damage and that all my ribs were broken into tiny pieces.

"My Lady, people are coming from the direction of the school, we have been spotted," another Eye reported.

"Go, I will follow shortly. First I must dispose of my dear sister. Witnesses cannot be left alive," Lily grinned at me evilly.

My life flashed before my very eyes. It was rather short, and rather boring, but it was my life all the same. Suddenly, as Lily raised her wand, presumably to finish me off, I started to glow with a warm, orange light. The light expanded and Lily was pushed farther and farther away. Soon she was out of sight and I lost all consciousness, which was rather nice actually because you don't feel pain while you're unconscious.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"She should be fine, but she'll need to stay in St. Mungo's for a little longer."

"Is it okay to let the girls come in to see her? They've been worried sick all night."

"It should be fine as long as they don't hug her or tire her out too much, she needs her rest."

"Good, those two are like sisters to her. I'll just go and send another owl to Mr. Potter."

"I'll be back to check on her later. She's one lucky girl, most would be dead, but she's not even going to suffer lasting damage."

"Strength runs in her family, she is, after all, a Potter."

"Yes, and from what I gather another Potter is exactly what we need. I'll be back soon, and don't forget that the Minister and the Aurors wish to question her."

"Who she will talk to is her decision and her decision only. I have a feeling that she will never tell the Minister everything, or that if she does he will not believe her. Her own father probably won't believe parts of it, at least from what Miss Weasley has told me."

"I shall tell the Minister she's not awake yet."

"Very well, but she is awake, aren't you Miss Potter."

Opening my eyes after my feigned unconsciousness I attempted to sit up and gave up quite quickly.

"Yes, Professor Longbottom I am awake, but I'd rather not talk to the Minister right now, if that's okay," I said sheepishly.

"Yes, that is quite all right. I shall go and fetch the Weasley family," Professor Longbottom and the St. Mungo's orderly both left the room, closing the door behind them with a soft click.

I wished that Professor Longbottom hadn't left, I still had many questions, but I also wanted to see Celeste and Lauran. I struggled for a minute and the desire to see my 'family' finally won out. It wasn't long before they came in, all of them. Celeste, Lauran, Greg, George, Fred, Alicia, and Angelina all piled into my small room. It was a tight fit but they all made it through the door and into the room, shutting the door behind them.

"Riley, I'm so glad you're all right!" Alicia Weasley bent to give me a hug, thought better of it and backed off as I involuntarily cringed.

"What happened?" I asked Celeste who sat in a chair next to my bed.

"Well, after I got out of sight I ran as fast as possible to the school and got Professor Longbottom and some other teachers. We were running towards where I had left you when there was a huge burst of orange light and we all broke into a sprint, fearing the worst. But when we got there everyone was gone and you were unconscious. Professor Delacour went to get the St. Mungo's people and the others looked around for any Eyes or whatever Lily called them. But the search was pointless, Lily was long gone, and the St. Mungo's people brought you here late last night. You know the rest."

Nobody said anything for a long time; it wasn't an awkward silence, just a pensive silence. We were all thinking our own thoughts about what had occurred last night. Alicia was the first to speak.

"It never occurred to me that Lily might be the next He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. She never came across as being a bad person and Harry certainly didn't raise you two to act the way she turned out. I wonder what went wrong with her," Alicia was only half talking to the rest of us.

"It wasn't anything Dad did; Lily didn't need anyone's help to go crazy, although Mum and I probably accelerated the process what with Mum's favoritism and my resentment of her," I replied finally stating something I had been mulling over myself for a while now.

Alicia looked slightly startled at my answer, but quickly recovered, "You are much wiser than most people your age, it surprised me a little, and then I remembered who I was talking to."

We talked for a while longer and then the Weasley family left, the students to go back to school and the adults to go back to work. I slept for a while and when I woke up Professor Longbottom had just walked in the door.

"I'm sure you have many things pertaining to your sister that you have not shared, last night being one of them. I am always available for you to talk to. Any questions you ask I will do my best to answer. Painful memories can be eased if shared with the right person; I can be that person, but only if you wish." Professor Longbottom spoke softly, not forcing anything from me, but I soon found myself telling him all about Lily, last night, and my childhood. Professor Longbottom just listened and said nothing.

"Miss Potter, I cannot begin to explain most of what you have just told me, but your knowledge of your sister will prove helpful to you someday, and that day is coming all too fast."

"Professor, do you know what the orange light was? I've never heard of that happening before. Why did it happen and what was it?"

"It is, I believe, an ancient magic that you unknowingly called upon. In the legends about the Hogwarts founder's fight against the first wizard who used his power for evil the light was a powerful magic that could only be conjured by the combined powers of the four Hogwarts founders. Very little is mentioned about what that light does. All I know is that it is said to be able to attack, and sometimes destroy, the evil inside of a person. You have a power beyond most witches and wizards wildest dreams. And I trust you will use that power with care. We have reached a time, Miss Potter, where you must choose between what is right and what is easy. Your sister chose the easy path; I trust that you will not. It is a question of choices, choices I had hoped my students would never have to make. Now, I must leave you, Professor Delacour wishes me to discipline some students who made it snow throughout the entire castle. It seems that classes will be cancelled for the remainder of the week. I'm sure the other students will be very disappointed when they find out."

Professor Longbottom left me to mull over what he had just said. In fact, I continued to mull until I arrived back at Hogwarts late that afternoon. Lily's plans were like a jigsaw puzzle, you had to hunt for each piece separately but only entirely put together would they make a picture. All of the pieces were there, but it was up to me to assemble them.

* * *

**AN/ Sorry about the cliffie at the end of the last chapter! I didn't mean to leave such a big one. SORRY, Please don't hate me!**

**Cha, next chapter is... VERY important to the plot of the story! And then it's going to be a funny chapter, you need a break from all this serious stuff! I'll try to update soon!**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN/ VERY IMPORTANT CHAPTER!

* * *

**

Chapter 12: The Wielder of Power

"And so I'd like to wish you all a very happy Halloween," Professor Longbottom announced as I walked into the Great Hall late that afternoon fresh from my stay at St. Mungo's.

The entire Great Hall turned to stare at me as I slowly walked towards my seat at the Gryffindor table. Not a word was uttered, which led me to believe that Professor Longbottom had already told of my 'adventure'. Perhaps it was that 'adventure' that allowed me to forget that it was, in fact, Halloween.

Although I was disappointed to see that the Great Hall wasn't as decorated as it normally would have been, I was more disappointed to note that all of the snow that Professor Longbottom had mentioned earlier seemed to have been cleared up. I still managed an extremely weak smile in the general direction of Wood as I passed him. (We remained civil to one another for the benefit of the general public,)

The relentlessly staring eyes made me wish I could move faster, but my injuries would simply not allow it. So I was forced to meander slowly between the tables with the eyes of every single occupant of that rather large dining hall upon me.

I finally slid onto the bench between Logan and Greg. As soon as I had sat Professor Longbottom sat down and began to eat, the rest of the Hall following his example, so that soon the Hall was full of talk and laughter and empty of most of the open stares.

I ate very little and talked and laughed even less. Celeste quickly covered up, or at least made a valiant attempt to cover up, my strange behavior. All in all the conversation was slightly strained and there were little holes unknowingly left in the conversation where I would have made my snide little remarks.

When the feast had ended I left the table and headed in the opposite direction from everyone else. My friends stopped, turned and watched me amble slowly and casually (and quite painfully) up to Professor Longbottom.

"I was thinking about what you said earlier Professor and I have a question," I spoke softly almost as if it would hurt to speak loudly.

"Yes, Riley, what is it?"

"If there's evil in the Wielder of the Power to destroy evil, would it destroy the wielder too?"

Professor Longbottom looked at me for a long moment, "Riley I have told you far too much to lie to you now, but yes. Yes, the power could destroy the wielder too. I have told you that you must make the decision of taking the path which is right of the path which is easy, that decision is now within your hands."

I nodded solemnly and turned walking down the stairs from the staff table and down the aisle way between the tables. I bit my lip as I came upon my friends and then walked right past them, ignoring their questioning gazes. I had made my decision in the blink of an eye, for me I could choose no easy choice; I would choose what was right, even if it meant destroying myself in the process.

* * *

**AN/ It's a little shorter than normal but that's okay, right?**

**And the plot thickens, bum bum bum, well maybe it doesn't but I've always wanted to say that! **

**Next chapter is going to be funny, so I hope you like funny! It needs a little comic-relief, don't you think?**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Bouncing Bubbles and Jell-O

It turns out that there was no need for snow inside the school because as November started the snow also started. We had to plow our way through several feet of snow to get to all of our outdoor classes. Most of our free time was spent outside engaged in various snowball fights and snow castle building competitions. Well, most of everyone else's free time anyway. I personally directed most of my free time into finding the riddles, which involved dragging a sulky Logan around with me.

"This is important!" I insisted for about the twentieth time that day.

"So is acting normal. Besides I thought we agreed on only finding one clue a day. You're looking for number five, and it isn't even noon yet!" Logan retorted.

"Excuse me for wanting to train and get rid of Lily!"

"You think I don't want that crazy, sorry excuse for a human defeated? I'm just not acting like a slave driver to do it!"

"Fighting again? Most couples do quite frequently," Bella Knights spoke softly, almost maliciously.

Bella was not one of my favorite people, but I wouldn't expect her to be what she recently appeared to be, in cahoots with Lily. Bella was a 3rd year Slytherin that was known to be malicious, nasty and downright rude to anyone or anything that rubbed her the wrong way. I had tried to steer clear of Bella, but that was becoming more and more difficult as the weeks passed.

"What do you want, Bella?" I asked warily, careful to use a fairly civil tone.

"Always one to come straight to the point, aren't you? Ah, well I guess it's for the best. I simply want to talk to you, alone." Bella gave me a sly look that I dearly wanted to wipe off of her face.

"I don't think that's necessary. Anything you want to tell me you can say in front of Logan." I replied smoothly.

"Since you insist, I'll tell you now. I was instructed to tell you by, ah, higher authorities that your little trick in Hogsmeade has been researched and is being dealt with. Her Ladyship is not pleased with your use of it on her. She wishes you to know that she has suffered no lasting damage, which should come as a relief to you," Bella said her bit then turned and walked off, looking as if Christmas had come early.

"What was that about?" Logan asked.

"I'm not sure," I lied, but not very convincingly because my face had been completely drained of color, "but I don't think it's a good thing. Let's take a break from this clue finding. I need to do something."

"I'm not complaining about the break, but are you sure you don't want to find this last clue?"

"We'll look for it later." I replied preoccupied, "There's plenty of time since I have a feeling that classes will be canceled for the rest of the week."

"Why do you say that?"

"That's why," I replied pointing to the window. The snow outside was so thick that you couldn't see past the window ledge even if you had some sort of enhanced vision.

"Oh, right," Logan replied.

Later that week, I found myself sitting, once again, in the Headmaster's office. Why was I there this time? I had pulled yet another prank that they couldn't pin on me but they were going to try to anyway.

"Miss Potter, did you or did you not tell Miss Marshbanks to go outside and into greenhouse number five for today's class?" Professor Longbottom had never yet lost his calm when dealing with troublemaking students.

"Yes, I did tell her that." I replied calmly knowing that he couldn't pin any of this on me and he knew it.

"Did you then hurry to beat her to the greenhouse and rile up some of the plants?"

"No, I did not," I replied honestly.

"Did you hurry back to enchant the plants to sing rather inappropriate songs when she walked in?"

"I can't say that I did," I replied once again honestly.

"Do you have an alibi?"

"Yes, I was on my way to the library to finish my homework for Potions. It was afternoon break and I had Potions right before dinner. I usually procrastinate on my Potions homework."

"So you're telling me that you did tell Miss Marshbanks to go to greenhouse 5, then did not hurry back to either aggravate the plants or to enchant them to sing offensive songs?"

"Yes, sir that's what I said," I replied.

"Now did you have any role in the major happenings of the day? I have a feeling that this was just a minor distraction…"

"Neville!" interrupted Professor Delacour, "There's bubbles floating down all of the corridors and they refuse to pop! And the stair case from the 7th floor to the 4th floor has turned into a slide! And there is a rather large amount of Jell-O in the unused dungeons hallway!"

"Miss Potter we shall continue this conversation later. You may go and enjoy your _colleague's _handiwork." Professor Longbottom strode out of the office following a rather distraught looking Professor Delacour.

"Brilliant, Potter, simply brilliant!"

"I didn't do it," I replied to yet another student congratulating me on my outstanding prank. Nobody had believed me yet.

"Of course you didn't! Who else could pull this off?" The student gestured in the general direction of the students jumping off the rail above the Entrance Hall and into the mound of Jell-O in the dungeons hallway.

I just smiled this time and turned to watch as one of my un-pop-able bubbles chased Professor Sever, everyone's favorite potions teacher,(I mean that sarcastically) down the hall. The bubbles really were quite pop-able, you just had to tickle them a bit and then prod them with your wand, but no one thought to ask me that so I enjoyed every minute of the chaos.

"Miss Potter, would you do the honors, or shall I?" Professor Delacour asked.

"I could, but that wouldn't be much fun. And if you try to clear it up it's only going to get twice as bad," I replied with a hint of an arrogant grin on my face.

"Well, if that's what you think."

Professor Delacour waved her wand and then watched in disbelief as the bubbles split in two and the Jell-O spread across much of the Entrance Hall.

"Miss Potter, I think enough is enough!" Professor Delacour nearly screamed at me, "Make it go away!"

I considered playing the temporarily deaf card and then thought better of it as Professor Delacour turned a lovely shade of purple. I waved my wand once and everything disappeared and then again and all the falling students were lowered safely onto the Jell-O free floor. Professor Sever let out a last little scream of terror and then realized that the bubble was no longer chasing her and tried to regain her dignity and poise.

"Well, since my services are not needed here any longer, I'll just…"

"Hold it right there Miss Potter! You are coming to pay a visit to the Headmaster's office with me," Professor Delacour unceremoniously seized my arm and marched me down the hallway.

"Two visits to that office in one day; that has got to be a record." I muttered to myself thinking that it would be a miracle if I got out of this with anything less than three weeks of detention.

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**AN/ So... **

**In the next chapter expect to hear from someone that we'd all hoped had gone and curled up in a corner to die, but who really is most of the plot to the story.**

**Let me know what you want to happen in upcoming chapters. **

**I think it's almost Christmas and that letter from James is going to reappear and they will finally get informed about those puzzles they have to figure out in order to pass their year. If you don't remember these details thengo back to chapters 2 and 6 to refresh your memory. But none ofthose ideas areexactly solid yet.**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Lily's Note

"How did you manage to get out of that with no detention?" Celeste asked in an awed voice later that night.

"I'm a fast talker, what can I say?" I replied knowing fully well that my fast talking had in fact saved me from three weeks of detention, "Besides, I don't think Professor Longbottom really wanted to give me detention."

"I don't think I'll ever understand him. One minute you think he's going to do one thing and the next minute he's off doing the completely opposite," Celeste sighed and took a seat in the good armchairs by the fire.

"Logan, did you figure it out yet," I whispered as I walked by the table where he was working in the Common Room.

"No, and don't you even think about telling me the answer!" Logan replied.

"Riley, come here. I need some help with this homework and you've been done with it for ages," Wood called across the Common Room.

"Are you leaving things until last minute again? I'll help but only for a little while, I've got Quidditch Practice," I walked over to the table that Wood was sitting at by the window and sat down.

"This passage makes no sense. It's contradicting what the line right before it is saying," Wood pointed out a couple of lines in the book and I leaned over to get a good look, glancing out the window as I did so.

"Oh, bloody hell!" I exclaimed rushing over to the window and yanking it open to let my injured owl into the Common Room. I caught her just as she fell towards the ground.

"What's wrong?" Celeste asked as she hurried across the Common Room to intercept me on my way downstairs to see the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Cockatrice.

"Someone attacked Zandra," I fumed, "Look at her! She's got a broken wing and she's all bloody!"

"Who did you send her to?" Lauran asked, joining the conversation.

"Nobody, that's the weirdest thing, anyone could have done this," I replied as I remembered that I had been going to take Zandra to Professor Cockatrice.

"Not anyone," Celeste replied softly pulling off the letter attached to Zandra's leg and placing it in my hand, "I bet this will tell us who attacked her and hopefully why they did."

"It was Lily," I replied suddenly, almost inaudibly, "I know it was. She attacked Zandra because she's angry that I got away."

I didn't wait for a reply (and it's a good thing I didn't because no reply came) but instead went out of the Common Room and hurried towards the Staff Room to find Professor Cockatrice.

"She'll be just fine, that's a fighter that one. But do you have any idea who might have done this to her?" Professor Cockatrice asked as she scratched Zandra on the head.

"No, I don't know," I lied shaking my head, "I have no idea who might do that to her."

"Hmm," Professor Cockatrice replied, not believing me for a second, "I'll watch her for the next few days and make sure she heals properly. You can run along now."

"Thanks Professor," I replied quickly and turned to go, suddenly remembering the letter that Zandra had been carrying was still clenched in my hand.

I hurried out of the Staff Room and down to the Quidditch pitch. I shut myself in the Captain's office and sat down to rip the note open. It read as follows:

Sister,

I know that you know more about things then you let on. Don't forget, my Eyes are always watching.

The note wasn't signed, but it really didn't need to be. Once again I wondered who XJ was and how they knew so well exactly what was taking place in Hogwarts.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: A Letter from the Past

"What the Hell?" I muttered as an old letter fluttered out of a pair of dirty robes I had just pulled from under my bed. We had decided that it was time for a little cleaning, the House Elves really did a nice job, but no living creature dared to venture underneath my bed.

"What's that?" Celeste inquired, "It looks ancient."

"I have no idea," I replied, "I was de-junkifying the underside of my bed and it fell out of a pair of robes."

"Eww, gross," Celeste poked my robes with her wand, "I don't want to know how long those have been there."

"I agree," Lauran called from across the room where she was perched, ready to hit the vicious dust bunnies that had ventured into the daylight.

"Hmm, I suppose I'll look at it later," I said, slipping it into my pocket and charming the dirty robes so that they would float into the dirty laundry hamper.

"NO!" Celeste, Lauran, and Julia, our other roommate, exclaimed.

"What we mean is," Celeste added quickly, "you should probably have a look at it now, otherwise you'll forget and it'll just end up under the bed again."

"Fine," I agreed reluctantly turning from my properly de-junkified bed and sitting in the window overlooking the lake.

I pulled out the letter and, glancing at the signature, remembered where I had gotten it. I opened it carefully, but eagerly.

"That thing has got to be a hundred years old!" Julia commented, "It's so… old smelling, you know what I mean?"

"It's as old as the Marauder's Map," I muttered to myself.

On the day that Spencer Wood and I broke up (chapter 6, for those of you wondering) I found an old file with my grandfather's Quidditch records in it. I had placed the records back in the filing cabinet and pocketed the letter. Apparently I forgot about the letter and it was left in my robes which were thrown under the bed and forgotten. The letter itself had been written by my grandfather, James Potter, decades earlier.

I eagerly read the following:

_**To whatever future Quidditch Captain reads this,**_

_**I sincerely hope that your Quidditch season is at least as joyful as my past several have been. We almost won the Quidditch Cup for the third time since I joined the team but were defeated by Slytherin in our final match yet again. I have finally figured out the cause for this, but I don't suppose it matters to you. If it does then please, continue reading and, if you are a troublemaker, then go right on reading on the back of the parchment.**_

_**I followed Higgins, the current Slytherin Captain, last night. I discovered, through my own secret means, that he was sneaking off every night and, as you may guess, was eager to find out why. It turns out that he was researching how a former Slytherin Captain had gotten frustrated that Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup year after year and jinxed it so that only when the greatest wizard of all time came to Hogwarts and played Quidditch could Gryffindor win again. Most believe this to be a legend but, unfortunately for us Gryffindors, it was not.**_

_**Everyone knows that the greatest wizard of all time is Professor Dumbledore, he is, after all, the only wizard You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. I knew I had to find out if he had played Quidditch, in other words I asked him. I was thinking that, if he had played Quidditch, Gryffindor it would just turn out that Gryffindor sucks at Quidditch. Thankfully, I think, he didn't ever play Quidditch. He did, however, tell me a very interesting story about his first broom ride and why his nose is so crooked. So, knowing this I decided to write a letter of consolidation to the future Quidditch Captains letting them know not to despair, that even though they may lose the Cup year after year, it is not their fault or the fault of their team. It is the fault of a very old curse and a stupid prat who placed it there.**_

_**Oh, and also for the enjoyment of any future Quidditch Captain who may read this I have included, on the back, a list of the proper steps to follow in order to get into the basements of the Quidditch Pitch. My best friend, Sirius Black, and I find the basements to be the best place to plan all of our pranks. You may even find some of our old things down there, you never know.**_

_**That is all, dearest future Quidditch Captain, I sincerely hope that you are as Quidditch obsessed as I am. Although I do think it's not entirely because of my Quidditch Season that I'm happy at the end of my 7th and final year at Hogwarts. I say final year because although Hogwarts is much better than most places and all of my friends are here, I do not, in fact, plan to fail and have to repeat my 7th year. I don't think my girlfriend, Lily Evans, who finally admitted that she liked me and we finally started dating, would appreciate it if I failed. And to all those egotistical Quidditch Captains out there, if you're having girl or guy trouble, I suppose, you should try deflating your ego and becoming a tad more realistic, it seems to have worked for me. So with no further ado, I give you the steps to entering the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch Basements.**_

_**Yours Truly and Forever,**_

_**James Potter**_

"Bloody Hell!" I exclaimed as I flipped over the letter and scanned it eagerly, "I didn't know that the Pitch even had basements! Someone, hand me a quill, ink and parchment!"

"Show us the letter first," Celeste protested, but I was already rummaging through my school bag and pulling out the essential items.

"Aha!" I yelled triumphantly as I sat down and quickly copied the instructions, "Have they ever rebuilt or remodeled the Pitch?"

"I don't think so," Lauran replied, thoroughly confused, "Why?"

"That's bloody brilliant!" I exclaimed, denying them the satisfaction of knowing why I was so cheerful. "Who else is ready to finish cleaning quickly?"

"What was in that letter?" Celeste demanded, tackling me and pinning me to the ground.

"Geez, you could have asked nicely," I muttered as I threw her off of me and rubbed my shoulder, "I think you've gone and dislocated my shoulder, I've got Quidditch practice tonight!"

"The letter! Riley Elizabeth Potter, what was in that bloody letter?" Celeste growled threateningly.

"Oh, right," I muttered, "The letter was written by some James Potter character, sketchy kind of chap I think, he was babbling about some sort of basement under the Pitch and claiming that Sirius Black was his best friend. Oh, and something about Lily Evans and a curse on the school's Quidditch Cup."

"Give me that letter!" Celeste exclaimed, sticking out her hand, "I want to read it for myself!"

"Here you go," I handed the letter to my friend, "Please be careful, it's rather old and I would like to show it to my dad. You know, it's a family relic and all that."

Celeste read the letter and just managed to splutter. She handed it wordlessly to Julia who scanned it quickly and handed it to Lauran.

"You know what this means, right?" I asked my friends excitedly.

"We're going to the Quidditch Pitch Basements!" They shouted in unison.

"No, we've got to clean and then Julia, Lauran and I have practice, but then we can go to the basements of the Quidditch Pitch!" I corrected.

They all groaned in disappointment.

"Well, one of us has got to be practical, and I thought it was my turn," I commented, "Besides, tomorrow is Sunday, so we've got all night to go and explore the basements."

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**AN/ Sorry guys that it's been so long! I really didn't mean to wait so long to update, but the computer wouldn't upload it and then I kinda sorta forgot that it wouldn't work! Okay, so next chapter is them visiting the basements and then, well, we'll just see what happens, although it _WILL_ involve something that Professor Longbottom mentioned at the begining of the year, like maybe at the feast or something... (HINT, HINT)**

**Oh, and I decided that this _WILL_ be my last Riley Potter book. I've been working on the seriesfor close to three years now, and they're really not as interesting for me to work onas they once were. And now I've got Katie:English Bell, which is _LOADS_ better(it's almost done)and soon I'll have Lily's List. So, it's not like I'm going to stop writing or anything, cause I'd have to be dead to do that! LOL**

**CHECK OUT MY OTHER STORIES AND REVIEW!**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	16. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**AN/ Okay, so this is purely an author's note, so sue me! Well, again with the whole, you won't get anything because I'm not JK Rowling, yeah,don't sue me...**

**I'll get the next chapter up ASAP but I wanted to let you know, dear readers,that I have my newest story up. It's called Lily's List and here's the sumary...**

**Summary: Lily Evans's impossibly long list of changes James Potter would have to go through in order for Lily Evans to date him **is a list that Lily started her first night at Hogwarts. Will Lily risk getting hurt or simply add to the list when James changes?

**Here's the entire list, just so you have an idea of what will be happening in the story. And I'll make it interesting and funny, I promise!

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**

**Lily Evans's impossibly long list of changes James Potter would have to go through in order for Lily Evans to date him **

**(More commonly referred to as 'Lily's list') **

Lose the glasses, they make him look dumber than he already does

Make a top grade in the class

Talk about something other than Quidditch

Actually grow taller than Lily

Sustain a horrible Quidditch injury and not play in a game but go to the match and cheer the team on anyway

Date a girl other than a bimbo

Break up with girl mentioned in #6 for some **_good_** reason other than 'she wasn't a good kisser'

Refer to Alice Prewett as something other than 'Gideon and Fabian's sister' or the ever popular 'Prewett'

Stop knicking school owned objects like that annoying snitch, especially since he's a Chaser

Stop flipping Severus Snape upside down and showing the school his knickers for no reason other than that Snape was born and Potter's mates were bored

Learn to walk around the school instead of strutting everywhere

Get Remus Lupin out of trouble instead of into it

Allow Remus Lupin to confess to Lily that Remus is, in fact, a werewolf Confess that he's an animagi

Refer to Lily as 'Lily' instead of 'Evans'

Allow Lily to feel comfortable referring to him as 'James' instead of 'Potter'

Stop calling Lily 'his girl'

Stop beating up Lily's 'boyfriends'

Stop asking Lily out in front of her 'boyfriend' or while she has one & Stop asking Lily out while he has a 'girlfriend'

Swear that he wasn't part of Sirius Black's bright idea to set Severus Snape on Remus Lupin while Remus was in his werewolf state

Stop smirking at anything that walks and falls in the category of girl like she's a hunk of meat

Stop smirking period, at least most of the time, sometimes it's cute

Stop messing up his already messy hair all the time so that it looks like he's just stepped off his broomstick

Get Frank Longbottom to ask Alice Prewett out

Invite Lily Evans to one of his parent's fancy parties he always brags about

Meet Petunia and decide to put up with her

Meet Lily's parents and they decide they like him

Get Sirius to meet Lily's parents and they decide they like Sirius

Get Remus to meet Lily's parents and they decide they like Remus

Get Peter to, well no, but get Frank and Alice to meet Lily's parents and they decide they like the two of them (As a couple, they've already met Alice and have decided they like her very much)

Get his parents to meet Lily's parents and invite them all to a casual dinner

Take Lily for a midnight broom ride

Finally, ask Lily out using a speech that proves that he really has conformed to all of the changes listed above and proves he doesn't want her as a trophy but truly loves her

And, most importantly, stop being a FILTY, IRROGANT, IMPOSSIBLE, ANNOYING, FILTHY, ROTTEN, TOERAG and DEFLATE HIS GALATIC SIZED EGO

I, Lily Evans, claim the right to adapt any of the changes on **Lily Evans's impossibly long list of changes James Potter would have to go through in order for Lily Evans to date him** at any time or to add to the list at any time with the approval of my best friend, Alice Prewett.

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**All Lily/James lovers, please, at least read the first chapter and let me know if it is any good. And anyone else who is interested should try reading it too. Okay, I'll let you get back to your lives, and I'll post the next real chapter of _RPXJ _ASAP!**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**

**P.S. Erm, I'm going to be a little slow with the next chapter because I'm having trouble thinking up ideas... SORRY! I'm working on it, I really am!**


	17. Chapter 16

**Okay guys, After a very, very long time I have finally gotten myself unstuck. This is one of the last few chapters of this story that I will ever write! I'm so sorry it's been so long!**

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**Chapter 16: Into the Basements**

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"Riley, you really need to stop making practice be so tiring!" Julia complained good-naturedly as we walked out of the locker rooms and straight into Celeste.

"Hey guys, ready to go?" Celeste asked excitedly.

"No, I'm hungry and Lauran isn't out here yet," I replied, "I think we should wait until after dinner to go into the basements."

"NO!" Julia, Celeste and Lauran, who had just walked out of the locker rooms, roared.

"I was just kidding," I laughed, "You try to make a joke these days…"

I set off walking at a brisk pace and they hurried to keep up. I hung a left and then turned right, winding my way through the many passages of the Quidditch Pitch. I walked past the Slytherin locker rooms and turned to the left at the Hufflepuff locker rooms and went down the small staircase there before turning sharply to the right and yanking open a door that led into a storage cupboard.

"Erm, I think you went the wrong way," Julia said slowly.

"No, we're in the right place," I replied, "It should be right about here!"

I pushed on the place on the wall where the brick was a slightly different color of red and the wall instantly opened up, revealing a long, dark, narrow passageway.

"Oh," Julia said, "I think we might want our wands out."

"No duh, Sherlock," Celeste muttered.

"Thank you Captain Obvious," Lauran added sarcastically.

"Lumos," I said simply and the end of my wand ignited.

I started to enter the corridor but Julia threw out a hand to stop me.

"So, we're going to enter a tunnel that's God only knows how old and could collapse at any given moment?" Julia asked.

"That pretty much covers it," I replied, "Only you forgot the fact that we are doing so on an empty stomach."

"Just wanted to get the facts straight," Julia replied, swallowing nervously.

"Oh, come on," Celeste said impatiently, "It's not like its booby trapped or anything!"

"Actually I wouldn't put booby trapping past James Potter," I replied in a tone that showed I was clearly proud of my grandfather, "He was a dodgy sort of chap, just my type."

"You arrogant prat," Lauran teased, though not unkindly and rather fondly.

"Yes, then shall we be going?" I asked, sweeping my arm as if to indicate setting out on an adventure.

"Yes, we shall," The other three replied in unison and off we went into the damp, moldy passageway.

"What do you think we'll find?" Julia asked nobody in particular.

The other girls made suggestions and I only half listened. I was thinking, something I had been doing a lot of lately. My sister was now beyond anybody's control but what if I was the one who made her that way? I had spent years agonizing my sister and I had enjoyed every second of it. But something she said made me stop and think, and think and think and think.

_I want revenge on you. You tore our family apart and now I'm going to tear you apart_

Surely it couldn't be true, but I couldn't help thinking 'what f it was?'

"Potter!" Celeste shouted, whapping me in the back of the head, look where you're going! You almost ran into a wall!"

"Huh, oh, sorry guys," I replied, finding my nose less than an inch away from a slimy stone wall, "I was thinking."

"Yeah, well pay better attention while you think," Celeste muttered, "We've reached the end of the passage and there's nothing here."

"That was a waste of time," Julia muttered, "Just think, you could have been landing yourself in detention with Olivia instead!"

"Don't jump to conclusions girls," I warned, leaning casually on the wall which swung open with a creak, "You might just be surprised."

"Wow, this was probably really cool back in the Marauder's day!" Lauran exclaimed, sitting on a half moth eaten couch.

"Yeah, but not so much anymore," Celeste grumbled, sinking into an ancient armchair, "What'd you find Riles?"

I picked up the strange looking hourglass from the table, "I'm not entirely sure. But let's go. I doubt there's any more to look at."

"Good thinking," Celeste jumped out of the chair, "I told you we should have eaten before coming."

"No you didn't," The rest of us chorused.

"Well, I was thinking it," Celeste muttered, leading the way out of the passageway, "That was a bit of a let down."

"I wouldn't say that," I replied absently, staring at the strange hourglass I had found and getting a strange feeling like I had seen it before, "We may have struck gold."

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**I bet none of you can guess how I'm going to end this. Well, if you can I'll dedicate the next chapter to you. Once again, sorry it's been so long! I haven't updated since February, and I think that was just an Author's note.**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	18. Chapter 17

**Okay guys... last chapter, but there's an epilogue that will explain everything that doesn't get explained. Let me know what you need clarification on and I'll be sure to put it in there.**

**It's been great guys, I've enjoyed writing for you, but I can't continue this story any longer than the epilogue. Go and read my other stories if you want. People tell me that my writing has improved a ton and I know that _Katie:English Bell_ and _Lily's List_ are better than this story. So, enjoy!**

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**Chapter 17: Lost in Memories**

I sat staring at the hourglass that I had recovered from my grandfather's secret place in the basement. I looked at it from all sides, thinking once again about what I should do with it.

"What are you doing?" Lauran asked, looking up from her chess game with Dean, "You've been staring at that thing all day like it would give you answers or something."

"Yeah," Celeste echoed, glancing up from the floor where she sat 'watching' the chess match. She was really trying to help Dean beat her sister, "What is that thing?"

I shrugged, "I'm just thinking."

"You've been 'just thinking' for days," Spencer informed me, walking by on his way out of the Common Room, "Are you ever going to do anything?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Have you been listening to our conversations Mr. Wood?"

"Yes," Spencer replied, sticking his head back through the portrait hole, "And they've been getting progressively less conversation like."

I didn't answer and he went away. Suddenly, I made up my mind, "I'll see you around."

"Where are you going?" Celeste called after me.

I didn't answer. Instead I hightailed it down to the Quidditch Pitch before I could lose my nerve. I was in such a hurry that I didn't see Logan sitting in my office as I jogged through the locker rooms.

"Riley!" Logan called after me, running to catch me as I entered the pitch, "Riley wait! I have to come to!"

"You figured it out then?" I asked, turning to look at him.

I had found the letter from my grandfather before the clue from Professor Longbottom appeared to lead us to it. Then I went to the basement, finally realizing what it was I had been doing the whole time.

Logan and I hadn't been learning how to fight Lily; we'd been learning how to prevent her from ever happening. Well, not exactly. I guess I'd better just finish the story. It's easier for us all that way.

"Well, not exactly," Logan replied in answer to my question, "I figured out the basement part. And then one day you were late coming up after practice and suddenly you were always thinking and that hourglass thing appeared. So, explain. What is that thing?"

I gazed at the hourglass for a second trying to think of how to explain it. "It's the answer to everything, Logan," I announced finally, "It's a modified model of the Time-Turner used by my dad and Hermione. You know the one; you've heard the story as many times as I have."

"I don't understand," Logan looked confused as he tried to puzzle out the final riddle, "What do you mean 'it's a modified model'?"

I sighed, "Logan, this Time-Turner will go back a year with each turn, not just an hour."

Suddenly realization spread across Logan's face, "You're telling me that Professor Longbottom has been feeding us the clues so that we could find this and erase ourselves!"  
"No, not erase ourselves," I replied, suddenly realizing that I was losing my nerve to do what needed to be done, "To go back in time seven years and change the future."

"How can we change the future?" Logan asked, frustrated, "We don't know why Lily is the way she is!"

In reply I voiced the very thing I had been thinking about for months, ever since I had met Lily that fateful night in Hogsmeade, "I made her that way."

Logan just stared at me, "Are you insane? You didn't **_make_** her anything!"

"Lily was frustrated because I got all my parents' attention. My mother wanted one girl and she got two. They worried that I didn't have magic and she grew ten foot tall flowers. They sent me to Muggle School and she stayed home. I rebelled and stole their attention and she was a perfect angel. I made Dad proud and she always seemed to disappoint. I resented her and she hated me. I got into Gryffindor and she lied about being in Slytherin. I always had what she wanted and she never got what I had. I thought I wanted her life, in fact I would have given anything to be her, but all this time I had everything I wanted and needed. She had only the very essentials of life; food, clothes, and shelter."

Once I had started everything came pouring out. Suddenly it all made sense. I had Lily figured out because she was exactly like me but she had taken a wrong turn seven years back. I could fix that wrong turn if I gave up everything.

"So we can throw our lives out the window for Lily?" Logan asked, "This Time-Turner will just propel us backwards through time, leaving us the way we are?"

"I think the Time-Turner will actually make me travel back in time to be who I was seven years ago. But I can't be sure until I go," I replied.

"You're not going anywhere without me Potter," Logan told me sharply, "I'm not that east to get rid of!"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked, "Because if you don't come with me, then you won't know that anything is different than it had once been."

"If there's one thing I've learned at Hogwarts," Logan told me, grabbing hold of the Time-Turner's necklace and placing it around his neck, "It's that the House Elves are extremely hospitable and that Professor Longbottom has a reason for everything."

I smiled at him as I took a deep breath and flipped the hourglass over seven times. We watched as time around us traveled back seven years. The pitch held match after match but they were always played backwards. Snow and rain fell into the sky and couples were seen kissing. Finally everything stopped. The blur ended and I was standing on the pitch for the first time on my visit to the school seven years before with my parents. Logan was, presumably, wherever he had been seven years ago.

I quickly hid the hourglass in the front of my zip-up Gryffindor jacket. It was just like it had been seven years ago. It was like I was lost in memories.

My dad came up from behind me and scooped me up just like he used to. Mum was standing there, holding Lily in her arms. Looking and acting exactly like the loving mother she had once been.

"Enjoy it now, while you can Riley," Dad told me softly, sweeping his arm to indicate the pitch, "I don't think you're going to be coming back."

"I don't know Daddy," I replied, smirking at him, "For some reason, I think I will."

"Oh, do you now?" Dad asked, raising an eyebrow, "And why is that?"

"I can feel it," I replied, "And Muggle School is not the place for me, at least not without my sister."

Mum looked curiously at the little girl she was holding, "Why would we send Lily to Muggle School? She's going to be coming to Hogwarts."

"She wants to go, right Lils?" I asked, putting my sister on the spot.

Lily nodded tentatively, "I want to go with Riley."

"Okay, but I don't see why it's necessary," Mum said, "We know you're going to come here."

"I don't think it will hurt her," Dad said, "And if Riley says she knows she's coming back, then I'm sure she's coming back."

Mum looked skeptical but nodded, "Okay, we'll see about enrolling you with your sister Lily."

Lily grinned at me. It was the one thing I missed most about my sister, the grins that were reserved especially for me.

I wasn't sure at the time what would happen, but the important thing was that something had changed in the future. And I had made it happen. I couldn't wait to see Logan. I knew I would probably have to wait six years until I saw him again. Hopefully, those years would fly right by.

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**Okay guys, I'm going to write the epilogue now. Let me know what you want to be told and suggestions of how you want the story to end would be wonderful. **

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


	19. Epilogue

**AN/ Okay guys, I hope that this will be a sufficient finish to my story. Let me know if there's anything else bothering you that you want to know and I'll put in a 'let's check on Riley in another couple of years' second Epilogue.**

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**Epilogue**

I sat on the Hogwarts Express with Logan. I was leaving for the final time. The past seven years had been infinitely better than the first three I had spent at the school, the ones that had been erased.

Lily was so different from what she'd ever been before. She was a perfect Gryffindor and she was the best Head Girl that Hogwarts had seen since her namesake had been Head Girl. Right now she was finishing up her Head Girl duties for the year. The two of us were inseparable.

As for me, my life was completely different too. Mum died soon after Lily and I started school. She had insisted on learning to drive so she could 'take her precious darlings to school.' She got into a car accident and was killed instantly. I forgave her for everything at the funeral. Technically she hadn't done anything to be forgiven for yet, but that's why time travel is so confusing. Last summer Dad had married Ginny Weasley. They were expecting their first child in a couple months. Celeste, Lauran and I were friends, but not nearly as close as we had been. As for Julia, her sister Olivia and I, we had spent more nights in detention than we had spent out of it.

I had been Quidditch Captain for my last two years at Hogwarts. Colby wasn't Quidditch Captain until his forth-year. And I never ran into Spencer Wood in Diagon Alley. In fact, we met at the sorting when he sat next to me after being sorted into Gryffindor. It's amazing how many things change if you tweak one tiny little event.

"Riley?" Logan asked, jutting into my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"I know we've discussed everything before, but there's one thing I never asked."

"What's that?"

"Who was XJ?" Logan asked and I laughed.

"So you haven't figured it out yet?" I asked.

"I don't know. I have a suspicion, but I think it's impossible," He replied.

"I thought changing the future was impossible too," I replied, "But think how wrong I was."

Logan looked at me for a second, "I think that you were XJ. But not the you in that time. Does that make any sense?"

"Yes it makes perfect sense. And it also happens to be the right answer. In my 'explorations' of Hogwarts, I discovered a hole in the fabric of time. All I had to do was walk through it and think exactly when I wanted to be in the other time. Are you following, because you look a little confused?"

"I think I get it," Logan replied, "But it's hard to understand."

"You're telling me," I laughed, "I don't fully understand it either, and I'm the one who did the time-travel."

Logan looked thoughtful for a second, "There's one other thing I wanted to ask you. Out of all the people that Professor Longbottom could have chosen to send back in time with you, why did he pick me?"

At that moment Lily walked in, "Sorry, I know you two were discussing an important 'something' that you can't tell me, but I want to say a proper good-bye to my boyfriend too."

I grinned at my twin sister as she sat down next to Logan, "I'll see you guys soon. I've got to talk to a couple people before we get to King's Cross. I'm on duty right away."

"See you later!" Lily called happily as I turned to walk out the door.

"And Logan," I added right before I left, "I think I know the answer to your question."

"What's that?" Logan asked.

I just grinned at him, knowing that it would drive him mad, "If you can't figure it out in the next year, then come and ask me."

And with that I walked out of the compartment, knowing that soon my sister and best friend would be snogging each other, and that was something that I could not watch without being sick. Oh, sure I was the youngest Auror ever and had seen more disgusting things in my short life than most, but you have not seen gross until you have watched Logan and Lily play tonsil-hockey.

"Riley!" A familiar voice called from an open compartment, "I'll see you at Auror training, right?"

"Not exactly Wood," I replied, "I'll be there for some, but I'm going to be on duty for most of it."

"What do you mean 'on duty'?" Lauran asked, her legs draped across Spencer's (The two had been dating for a while, another change and one that I was not happy with).

"I've already been trained," I explained, "In fact I've spent several summers with my dad at the ministry. I'm not going to see a lot of you guys unless you come over to my branch of the Auror department."

Spencer raised his eyebrow, "And what branch is that?"

"I can't tell you that," I said, enjoying the disappointed looks on their faces, "But I can tell you that they only take the top Aurors into the department, and if you get in, you'll probably be working under me."

"Great," Spencer grumbled teasingly, "I might get to work under Riley Potter the brilliant trouble maker who hasn't been caught for anything all year."

"Being the Head Girl's sister does have its perks," I sighed, "Although the fact that I learned how to make sure nobody could prove I had done anything helped in that department too."

Lauran and Spencer laughed.

"But I have to ask you, Lauran, why are you going to be a Healer? We can always use people with your talents," I told her truthfully.

"So can the Healers," Lauran replied, "And you're getting Celeste, who is almost as talented I am."

"Always the modest one," Spencer teased, kissing his girlfriend on the forehead, "See you at training Potter."

"Yeah, I'll see you around Wood," I replied, knowing that was his way of telling me to get lost.

I thought as I walked past the compartments. I had sacrificed everything to save my sister and the world I had loved my entire life. In going back in time I had lost my mother, my first love, even my best friends. And, as I thought, I wondered if it was worth it. As I came to the compartment filled with friends that was my destination I realized that by sacrificing all that I had once held dear, I had gained a sister and a world in which there was no evil. And my little suffering was dwarfed by the good I had done, the world I had rid of evil.

"Hey Riley!" Greg exclaimed as I walked into the compartment that held him, Morgan, and many of the other Gryffindors in his year and in mine.

"Hi Greg," I replied, sitting down next to him and catching the package of Pumpkin Pasties that Amity tossed to me.

"So, I hear you're the youngest Auror the ministry's ever seen," Morgan said from my other side.

"Yeah, and the youngest person in my department as well as being the most respected," I replied.

"Aren't we modest?" Celeste called from across the apartment.

"Yes, we are," I announced truthfully, knowing that the world would never know what I had done for it, "And modest we will stay."

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**Thanks so much to all my reviewers and especially to my cousin Elizabeth who first encouraged me to write fanfiction and then to continue.**

**Love From,**

**MotherCrumpet**


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